





^°*^^. y 



'J*^ • 







5V d' 









^o^V 







:. ^^^0^ o 







'- o 



- ^^dy'* ^JX^^^ '^^Mr^' "^ 



'bV 








'^o^ :«^ 
















4^ *"^* ^f 














\.^^^ 











- • # "^ A*i^^ . . ^ ' • ' "<*" 



*Pv\ 








^^°,^ -'^^ 



". %..<^'' i^K^ \/ *^^^"^'- ""- -^ ^^-^^^^'^ ^ 







<►. '"•* ^' 








. 'i 







;* , <r "^ "; 








\ >^o^ : 























.*'\ 













^O^^' ' 















%^<'' 






















V-^^ 



'u><b- 














-;* ^^ % \ 






0^ \ 













V" . « • 




'^O^ 






•^ 

\^^^ 













.* J" \ ^y\ 












ICtnroln 




"• of B. 



Abraham Lincoln 

and His Last Resting Place 

A Leaflet Published for 
Distribution at the National 
Lincoln Monument in the 
City of Springfield, Illinois 




Compiled by EDWARD S. 
JOHNSON, Custodian 



BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS: 
HON. FRANK O. LOWDEN, : : Governor 
HON. FRANCIS G. BLAIR, Supt. Pub. Instruction 
HON. LEN SMALL, : : Treasurer 



T 



HE Life of Abraham Lincoln has been written 
by many men in many tongues. The resources 
of rhetoric and eloquence have been exhausted 
in their portrayal of this character that however viewed 
holds a lesson for all mankind. In this brief space and 
for the purpose which this leaflet is designed to serve, 
the simple homely details of the martyred President's 
early life could not be better told than in his own 
words. No polished recital could be so prized by the 
great multitude who hold his memory dear as this 
transcript of a letter written in 1859 to his friend the 
Hon. Jesse W. Fell, of Bloomington, Illinois: 



'IT (o s~ 

y\\A-, A.^'v*''-^ iy\j~C'^JL> ^uyCC //Tn-'^ *—-' ^C^''Q/i^^-^<-*^ ^'^ ^<.,w<«icVZ^^^. 

' fi^t.ie^tr*—^ ,£e^-^:^^*-^^ /xJx/O*^ J p^^r^J^ '"VT' ' 

^!,x^ (/\,A^C.^js^ dgru-y^-^^^ij-^ dt4icl'*-un^ , />^ A-*-<^*-'^*-«-t' ^i.*i.'»~*«^ 

^-v-o/^!<x*-./ ^^rl—v^ (LP^u^J,.,s^ ^ /tjO-rJtZZtyhy ^ i^-^C-2n~^<7'/y'y/ ey 

f ^_^ '' ^ iff L^ fi.M^'i-.M^^ 

ly^-^~^-~-i o^ t,.^ULiAJ /\^L4r^ 4-.ri--0^ P''~* — 5 -^-e-ia-v-, ^Z-v-^v ^-<:^^^Z^ 

^-•. ^'hjiy^-*j /■v^-e'^<>' /^'-^T^^-'-^j ^4-^<:-^inrA ^ /i^-d Cji-^^K-o^y 40-i'JC~ Av) 




^.^-t^.*^^w-<;~ (J%-^ /./-»-, O-Z-t^g-C^ /X^f^^^^-jf ^A^""**^ 
^'^^ </<;l-«,^^j/j,^w^ CK<rK/« ^--w i fV~Ji^^^^.^U^ dgn-^iZ^ f-J'^Kx,'-^ aJ^ /^^^^-^ 

fjt^~^ <^i^ d/ f-fi^a^,,.^ '^fCc^.^^y >-*<^>.-c:3 . J f.r-e-^S:r t^ 

/^^f-*^^ ^^^/ /iriJlf^ /i-x.,^^ ^.y-p^ ..^<.a^,xZZj ^^^ a^i^ C^:X^ 



/CC*.-^^ ('^'V^^-l.*^ <i 1- 



/::&^ 



/>1^<? i3»^>^k-«w_^ ' /HCaX"" t^ .-♦C*-, o tX-tH'-.^ ^^<L^' ^^Si-^ it,' 

-^^-"^ ^y^l_v/ ^-1«--^^ (y^jL^-^. /C«,^i^v^ A^- ^^^.-,^ /vr<i-^--^--^^<rw 



)(l?w y //^ 9^. 










ABRAHAM 


L I N C O 


L N 


and HIS LAST RESTING PLACE 




7 



ABEAHAM LINCOLN little thought as he penned the words, 
"What I have done since then is pretty well known." that a 
world wonld one day listen enthralled to the tale of what he had 
done and should do in the decade from 1855 to 1865. 

In 1854, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 opened a 
new political era, and an agitation of the slavery question was begun 
which was destined to grow until the shackles were struck forever 
from the hands of the slave. 

By this repeal slavery claimed protection everywhere; it sought to 
nationalize itself. At this time the question of "popular sovereignty" 
arose, the right of the people of a territory to choose their own institu- 
tions, and upon this question ]\Ir. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas fought the 
"battle of the giants," and Mr. Lincoln's signal ability as an orator was 
forever established. He became at once the leader of his party in the 
West and the foremost champion of the liberties of the oppressd. 

In a private letter, written at this time, Mr. Lincoln defines his 
position on the great question of the day as follows: 

I acknowledge your rights and my obligations under the Constitution 
in regard to your slaves. I confess I hate to see the poor creatures hunted 
down and caught and carried back to their stripes and unrequited toil, but 
I keep quiet. You ought to appreciate how much the great body of the 
people of the North crucify their feelings in order to maintain their loyalty 
to the Constitution and the Union. I do oppose the extension of slavery 
because my judgment and feelings so prompt me, and I am under no obli- 
gations to the contrary. As a Nation we began by declaring "all men are 
created equal." We now practically read it, "all men are created equal 
except negroes." When it comes to making wholesale exceptions I should 
prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving 
liberty, where despotism can be taken pure without the base alloy of 
hypocrisy. 

Your friend, 

A. Lincoln. 

May 29, 1856, the Eepublican party of Illinois was organized, and 
he was now the leader of a party whose avowed purpose it was to resist 
the extension of slavery. At the National Convention his name was 
presented as a candidate for vice president. He did not receive the 
required number of votes, but the action was complimentary and served 
as Mr. Lincoln's formal introduction to the Nation. 

The senatorial campaign of 1858 in Illinois was memorable for the 
questions involved and for the debates between Douglas and Lincoln 
upon the great issues that were even then distracting the Nation. When 
these two met in intellectual combat the Nation paused to listen. "The 
eyes of all the Eastern states were turned to the West where young 
republicanism and old democracy were establishing the dividing lines 
and preparing for the great struggle soon to begin." 

To say that Mr. Lincoln was the victor in the contest morally and 
intellectually is simply to record the judgment of the world. 

His speeches were clear, logical, powerful and exhaustive. On 
these his reputation as an orator and debater rests. They defined the 
difference between the power of slavery and the policy of freedom 



ABRAHAM LIN C ^ Q L N 

8 and his last resting place 



which ended, after expenditures of uncounted treasure and unmeasured 
blood, in the final overthrow of the institution of slavery. 

Mr. Lincoln was defeated in this campaign and Mr. Douglas was 
returned to the Senate, but Mr. Lincoln was now thoroughly committed 
to politics. In 1859 and ISGO he journeyed in the Eastern states, mak- 
ing speeches that thrilled and electrified the audiences which he had 
expected to find cold and critical. 

The mutterings of secession already filled the land. The spirit of 
unrest and rebellion was gaining ground; but wherever the voice of 
Lincoln was heard it was pleading for union, for peace, for the Consti- 
tution, deprecating the evils of slavery as it existed, and protesting 
against its extension into the free states and territories. 

His was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, warning the men 
of the North and the South that a house divided against itself cannot 
stand. On the 18th of May, 1860, Mr. Lincoln received the nom- 
ination of the Eepublican Convention held at Chicago for President of 
the United States. How this plain, comparatively unknown Illinois 
lawyer Avas chosen in this critical hour before a man like Seward, with 
his wide experience and acquaintance, his large influence and surpass- 
ing ability, his name and fame of thirty years standing, must be 
regarded as the guiding of that Providence that had brooded over 
the life of the Eepublic since it declared itself to be the home of the 
free, the refuge of the oppressed. On the 6th of November Mr. 
Lincoln was elected, by a handsome plurality. President of the United 
States. 

At eight o'clock Monday morning, February 11, 1861, Mr. Lincoln 
left Springfield for the National Capitol to enter upon his duties as 
President. With these simple words he took leave of his friends and 
neighbors : 

My friends: No one not in my position can appreciate the sadness I 
feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have lived 
more than a quarter of a century; here my children were born, and here one 
of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty 
devolves upon me which is perhaps greater than that which has devolved 
upon any other man since the days of Washington. He never would have 
succeeded except by the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all 
times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine aid 
which sustained him, and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance 
for support, and I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that 
Divine assistance without which I cannot succeed, but with which success 
is certain. Again I bid you an affectionate farewell. 

These proved to be his last words to Springfield auditors. 
The result of his election pleased and united the North while it 
angered the South. To the more thoughtful men of both parties a crisis 
seemed imminent. The Southern states immediately seceded; the 
Southern Confederacy was formed with Jefferson Davis as President; 
forts and arsenals were seized and the war of the rebellion fairly inaugu- 
rated. It was this disrupted union, this all but shattered government, 
which waited for the man who upon the 4th day of March, 1861, 
took the oath of office and l^ecame the President of the United States. 



ABRAHAM 


L I N C O 


L N 


and HIS LAST resting place 




9 




LINCOLN MONUMENT. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



10 



and HIS LAST resting place 




•}l^,.X^i^%-W 



ABRAHAM 


LINCOLN 


and HIS LAST besting place 


11 




ABRAHAM 


LINCOLN 


12 


and HIS LAST resting place 






i ' 




\M 


■i 




-i __ 


J- 

w 

ft ' 


H. 




Y 



ABRAHAM 


LINCOLN 


and HIS LAST resting place 


13 





ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



14 



a7ld HIS LAST RESTING PLACE 



The closing words of his memorable inaugural address must have 
convinced his listeners of the wisdom, the strength, the gentleness of 
this new incumbent of the chair of State : 

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is 
the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. 
You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You 
have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall 
have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it. I am loath 
to close. We are not enemies, but friends. The mystic cords of memory, 
stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living neart 
and hearthstone all over this broad land will yet swell the chorus of the 
Union when again touched, as they surely will be, by the better angels of 
our nature. 

With infinite patience and unequaled forbearance and sagacity, 
]dj-. Lincoln strove to aveit war. l)ut when, on April 12, 1861, tlie rel3el 




PUBLIC VAULT AT OAK RIDGE. 

The remains of President Lincoln and his son, Willie, who died in Washington, 

were placed in this vault May 4, 1865. 

batteries were opened upon Fort Sumter, forbearance was no longer 
possible, and, on the 15th day of April, the pen that had only been 
used to counsel moderation, to urge loyalty, penned a proclamation 
calling for seventy-five thousand men, and the Civil War was begam. 
The popular government had been called an experiment. Two points 
of the experiment had already been settled : The government had been 
established and it had been administered. One point remained to be 
established: Its successful maintenance against a formidable internal 
attempt to overthrow it. Congress ably supported Mr. Lincoln. It 
placed at his disposal five hundred million dollars and gave him liberty 
to call out half a million men. During all the years of that long, sad 
war there were loyal hearts among his admirers that held up the hands 



ABRAHAM 


L I N 


C O 


L N 


and HIS LAST eestixg place 






15 




0- 



5S 



^■^ 



0^ Oj 

S > 



H^ 



1-1,0 






ABRAHAM 


LINCOLN 


16 


and HIS LAST eestixg place 





u o 



oK 



c 

£3 



4;^ 

^5 



6.- 



re 



5 'o 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

and HIS LAST resting place 17 



of their President, but the crowning personality, the strong, pervading, 
directing, controlling spirit was that of Abraham Lincoln, whether 
watching the progress of events from his almost beleaguered capital or 
while visiting and mingling with his army at the front. 

Xever for a moment did he lay aside his personal responsibility. 
Xever did he swerve from his resolve, expressed in the words of his 
memorable speech at the dedication of the soldiers' graves at Gettys- 
burg : 

We have come to dedicate a portion of this field as a final resting place 
for those who here gave their lives that the Nation might live. But, in a 
larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow 
this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have 
consecrated it far beyond our power to add or detract. The world will little 
note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what 
they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the 
unfinished work which they who fought here have so nobly advanced. It is 
rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, 
that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for 
which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly 
resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this Nation, under 
God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, 
by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 

The story of the Avar and the life of Lincoln are inseparable. The 
recital of all those years of marching, camping, fighting; of wounds, 
privations, victory, defeat and death, cannot be made without the story 
of Lincoln interwoven into its warp and woof. In intimate connection 
with his life as President, many beautiful letters remain, written during 
this period of storm and stress, and they attest to his quick and unfail- 
ing sympathy with those in trouble. Such is the line written in haste 
carrying pardon to the worn-out lad sentenced to be shot for sleeping at 
his post. 

The letter sent to the gentle Quaker, Eliza P. Gurney, who, on 
l)chalf of her people, the Friends, protested against what seemed to 
them the great sin of war. To her he writes : 

Surely, He intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion, 
which no mortal could make, and no mortal could stay. Your people, the 
Friends, have had, and are having, a very great trial. On principle and faith, 
opposed to both war and oppression, they can only practically oppose oppres- 
sion by war. In this hard dilemma, some have chosen one horn and some 
the other. For those appealing to me on conscientious grounds, I have done, 
and shall do, the best I could and can, in my own conscience, under my 
oath to the law. That you believe this I doubt not; and believing it, I shall 
still receive, for our country and myself, your earnest prayers to our Father 
in Heaven. 

Only a few months before his death he heard the pathetic story of 
Mrs. Bixby of Boston, Mass., Avho had given up five sons who had died 
in their country's service. Mr. Lincoln wrote her this beautiful letter 
of condolence which is said to rank next to his Gettysburg address in 
depth of feeling, beaut}', and simplicity of diction : 



ABRAHAM 


LINCOLN 


18 


and HIS LAST resting place 



Executive Mansion. 
Washington, November 21, 1864. 
To Mrs. Bixby. Boston, Mass.: 

I have been shown in the file of the War Department a statement to the 
Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who 
have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless 
must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the 
grief of a loss so everwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you 
the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to 
save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your 
bereavement and leave only the cherished memory of the loved and lost and 
the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the 
altar of freedom. 

Yours very sincerely and respectfully, 

A. Lincoln. 

The daj'S fraught with the grave issues of the war went by, victory 
alternating with defeat until, in the judgment of the commander-in- 
chief, the time had come to emancipate the colored race. 

Early in August of 1862, President Lincoln called a meeting of his 
Cabinet and submitted for their consideration the original draft of his 
Emancipation Proclamation. On the first day of January, 1863, Mr. 
Lincoln issued the final Proclamation of Emancipation, bringing free- 
dom to four million slaves and removing forever from the land he 
loved the blot of slavery. 

It seemed fitting that to this man who had blazed the way through 
the wilderness for this cause, who had brooded and smarted under the 
sense of the sin of slavery from his early untaught youth, who in 
clarion tones, had declared, at the outset of his career, that he "would 
speak for freedom against slavery until everywhere in all this broad 
land the sun shall shine, the rain shall fall and the wind shall blow upon 
no man who goes forth to unrequited toil." It was meet that from his 
lips should fall the words that made four million men free, and it is in 
consonance with the character of the great Emancipator that in this 
supreme moment of his life he reverently invoked upon the act "the 
considerate judgment of mankind and the 2,Tacious favor of Almis'litv 
God." 

The latter part of the year 1863 was marked by the success of the 
Union armies. The Republican National Convention assembled in 
Baltimore, June 8, 1864, unanimously nominating Mr. Lincoln as their 
candidate for President. His Avords accepting this nomination were 
characteristic : 

Having served four years in the depths of a great and yet unended 
national peril, I can view this call to a second term in no wise more fiatter- 
ing to myself than as an expression of the public judgment that I may better 
finish a difficult work than could any one less severely schooled to the task. 
In this view, and with assured reliance on that Almighty Ruler who has so 
graciously sustained us thus far, and with increased gratitude to the gen- 
erous people for their continued confidence, I accept the renewed trust with 
its yet onerous and perplexing duties and responsibilities. 

During the height of the canvass. President Lincoln issued a call 
for five hundred thousand men; also making provisions for a draft if 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

and HIS LAST resting place 19 

necessary. His friends feared that this measure might cost him his 
election, but he waived that aside as he always did personal considera- 
tion that might conflict wdth duty. 

November came, and with it Mr. Lincoln's reelection. His second 
election proved the death blow to the rebellion. From that time the 
Southern armies never gained a substantial victory. When the Thirty- 
eighth Congress assembled December 6, 1864, President Lincoln recom- 
mended an amendment to the Constitution making human slavery for- 
ever impossible in the United States. 

The joint resolution for the extinction of slavery passed Congress 
and received the signature of the President January 31, 1865. The 
Legislature in Illinois, being then in session, took up the question at 
once and in less than twenty-four hours after its passage by Congress 
Mr. Lincoln had the satisfaction of receiving a telegram from his old 
home announcing the fact that the constitutional amendment had been 
ratified by both Houses of the Legislature of his own State February 1, 
1865. The action of the Legislatures of other states soon followed, and 
thus was completed and confirmed the work of the Proclamation of 
Emancipation. 

Upon the 1th of March, 1865, Mr. Lincoln was for the second time 
inaugurated President of the United States. His inaugural address 
upon that occasion has become a classic. Its closing words have been 
quoted wherever the foot of an American has strayed beneath the sun : 

Fondly do we hope, reverently do we pray that this mighty scourge 
of war may speedily pass away, yet, if God wills that it continue until all 
the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequitefl 
toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be 
paid by another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, 
so still it must be said, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous 
altogether. With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in 
the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we 
are in, to bind up the Nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne 
the battle, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace 
among ourselves and with all nations. 

The closing scenes of the war were being enacted in quick succes- 
sion. Eichmond had fallen, and on the 4th day of April, just one 
month after his second inauguration, President Lincoln, leading his 
little son by the hand, entered the vanquished city on foot. Never has 
the world seen a more modest conqueror, a more characteristic tri- 
umphal procession. No army with banners and drums, only a few of 
those Avho have been slaves escorting the victorious chief with bene- 
dictions and tears into the capital of the fallen foe, 

A few more days brought the surrender of Lee's army and peace 
was assured. Everywhere festive guns Avere booming, bells pealing, 
churches ringing with thanksgiving. 

The 14th of April was the anniversary of the fall of Sumter. 
President Lincoln had ordered that day to be signalized by restoring 
the old flag to its place on the shattered ramparts of Fort Sumter. He 
ordered the same faithful hands that pulled it down to raise it — every 



ABRAH AM LINCOLN 

20 and his last resting place 

battcrv that tired iqioii it sliduld ;^aluti' it. Said tlie Eev. Ufiiry Ward 
Beechor upon tliat occasion : "From tliis pulpit of broken stone we send 
to the President of the United States our solemn congratulations that 
God has sustained his life and health under the miparalleled hardships 
and suH'ering of fonr bloody years and permitted him to behold this 
auspicious consummation of that national unity for which he has 
labored with such disinterested Avisdom." 

But, before the kindly words had flashed over the telegraph wires 
to the ears of the patient man in whose honor they were spoken, the 
bullet of the assassin had done its Avork. The sad words, "I feel a 
presentiment that I shall not outlast the reljcllion : when it is over my 
work will be done." Avere verified, and all civilized mankind stood 
mourning around the bier of the dead President. Then began that 
unparalleled funeral procession, a mournful pageant, passing country 
and village and city, Avinding along the territories of vast states, along 
a track of fifteen hundred miles, carrying the revered dead back to his 
OAA'n people, to the scenes of his early life, back to the prairies of Illi- 
nois. Said Beocher in his eloquent and touching funeral oration: 

Four years ago, Oil, Illinois! we took from your midst an untried man 
from among the people. Behold! Ave return to you a mighty conqueror, not 
ours any more, but the Nation's. Not ours but the Avorld's. Give him place, 
Oh. ye prairies! In the midst of this great continent his dust shall rest, a 
sacred treasure to the myriads Avho shall come as pilgrims to that shrine to 
kindle anew their zeal and patriotism. Humble child of the backwoods, 
boatman, hired laborer, clerk, surveyor, captain, legislator, lawyer, debater, 
politician, orator, statesman, President savior of the Republic, true Christian, 
true man. We receive thy life and its immeasurably great results as the 
choicest gifts that have ever been bestOAved upon us; grateful to thee for 
thy truth to thyself, to us and to God; and grateful to that ministry of 
Providence which endoAved thee so richly and bestowed thee upon the Nation 
and mankind. 

THE MOXUMENT. 

The bodv of Abraham Lincoln Avas deposited in the receiving vault 

at Oak Eidge Cemetery May 4, 1865. 

Upon tlie 11th of Ma}^, 1865, the Xational Lincoln Monument 

Association Avas formed, its object being to construct a monument to 

the memory of Abraham Lincoln in the city of Springfield, Illinois. 

The names of the gentlemen comprising the Lincoln Monument 

Association in 1865 (noAv deceased) were as folloAvs: 

GoA^ EiCHARD Oglesby, Siiakon Tyndale, 

Orlin H. Miner, Thomas J. Dennis, 

John T. Stuart, Xeavton Bateman, 

Jesse K. DuBois, S. H. Treat. 

James C. Conkling, 0. M. Hatch, 

John Williams, S. H. Melvin, 

Jacob Bunn, Ja:\[es H. Beveridge, 

David L. Phillips. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

and HIS LAST resting place 31 

The tempoiaiy vault Avas built and the body of President Lincoln 
removed from the receiving vault of the cemetery on December 31, 
1865. The body was placed in the crypt of the monument September 
19, 1871, and was placed in the sarcophagus in the center of the cata- 
comb October 9, 1874. 

Owing to the instability of the earth under its foundation and its 
unequal settling the structure had begun to show signs of disintegration, 
necessitating taking it down and rebuilding it from the foundation. 
The work was begun by Col. J. S. Culver in November, 1899, and fin- 
ished June 1, 1901. A cemented vault was made beneath the floor of 
the catacomb directly underneath the sarcophagus and in this vault the 
body of President Lincoln was placed September 26, 1901, where it 
will probably remain undisturbed forever. 

The monument is built of brick and Quincy granite, the latter 
material only appearing in view. It consists of a square base 721/^ 
feet on each side and 15 feet, 10 inches high. At the north side of 
the base is a semi-circular projection, the interior of Avhich has a 
radius of 12 feet. It is the vestibule of the catacomb, and gives 
access to viev^^ the crypts in Avhich are placed the bodies of Mr. 
Lincoln's wife and sons and his grandson, Abraham Lincoln, son 
of Hon. Eobert T. Lincoln. On the south side of the base is 
another semi-circular projection of the same size, but this is con- 
tinued into the base so as to produce a room of elliptical shape, 
which is called Memorial Hall. Thus the base measures, including 
these two projections, 1191/2 feet from north to south and 721/2 
feet from east to Avest. In the angles formed by the addition of 
these tAvo projections are . handsome flights of stone steps, tAA^o on 
each end. These steps are projected by granite balustrades, AA'hich 
extend completely around the top of the base, Avhich forms a ter- 
race. Prom the plane of this terrace, rises the obelisk, or die, Avhich 
is 28 feet 4 inches high from the ground, and tapered to 11 feet 
square at the top. At the angles of this die are four pedestals of 11 
feet diameter, rising 12i,'2 feet above tlie plane of the terrace. This 
obelisk, including the area occupied by the pedestals, is 41 feet 
square, AAdiile from the obelisk rises the shaft, tapering to S feet 
square at the summit. Upon the four pedestals stand the four 
bronze groups, representing the four arms of the service — Infantry, 
Cavalry, Artillery and N"aAy. Passing around the AA'hole obeli.sk and 
pedestal is a band or chain of shields, each representing a state, the 
name of Avhich is carved upon it. At the south side of the ol)elisk 
is a square pedestal, 7 feet high, supporting the statue of Lincoln, 
the pedestal being ornamented with the coat of arms of the United 
States. This coat of arms, in the position it occupies on the monu- 
ment, is intended to typify the Constitution of the LTnited States. 
Mr. Lincoln's statue on the pedestal aiDOve it makes the whole an 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

22 and his last resting place 

illustiatiuii oi' liici puisitiuii at the uutbiuak ui' tlic icbuliiuii. lie took 
his stand on tlie Constitution as his autiiority for using tlie four arms 
of the war power of tiie Government — the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery 
and Navy — to hold together the states which are represented still lower 
on the monument by a cordon of tablets linking them together in a per- 
petual bond of union. 

The money used in the original construction of this handsome 
monument came from the people by voluntary contributions. The 
first entry made by the treasurer of the association was May 8, 1865, 
and was from Isaac Keed, of Xew York, $1UU. Then came contribu- 
tions from Sunday schools, lodges, Army associations, individuals and 
states. The Seventy-third Eegimeut, United States colored troops, at 
]N'ew Orleans, contributed $1,437, a greater amount than was given 
by any other individual or organization except the State of Illinois. 
Many images of the record are filled with the contributions from the 
Sunday schools of the land, and of the 5,145 entries, 1,697 are from 
Sunday schools. The largest part of the money was contributed in 1865, 
but it continued to come to the treasurer from all parts of the country 
until 1871. About $8,000 was contributed by the colored soldiers of 
the United States Army. Only three states made appropriations for 
this fund— Illinois, $50,000; Missouri. $1,000. and Nevada, $500. 

The monument was dedicated October 15, 1874, the occasion being 
signalized by a tremendous outpouring of the people, the oration com- 
memorative of the life and public services of the great emancipator be- 
ing delivered by Governor Eichard J. Oglesby. President Grant also 
spoke briefly on that occasion, and a poem was read by James Judson 
Lord. 

The monument was built after the accepted designs of Larkin G. 
Mead, of Florence, Italy, and stands upon an eminence in Oak Eidge 
Cemetery, occupying about nine acres of ground. Ground was broken 
on the site September 10, 1869, in the presence of 3,000 persons. The 
capstone was placed in position on May 22, 1871. 

In July, 1871, citizens of Chicago, through Hon. J. Young Scam- 
mon, contributed $13,700 to pay for the Infantry group of statuary. 
In the city of New York, under the leadership of Gov. E. D. Morgan, 
137 gentlemen subscribed and paid $100 each, amounting to $13,700 
for the Naval group. 

Of the four groups of statuar}', the Naval group was the first com- 
pleted. This group represents a scene on the deck of a gunboat. The 
mortar is poised ready for action; the gunner has rolled up a shell 
ready for firing; the boy, or powder monkey, climbs to the highest 
point and is peering into the distance; the officer in command is about 
to examine the situation through the telescope. 

The Infantry group was the next to reach Springfield. Both these 
groups were placed in position on the monument in September, 1877. 
The Infantry group represents an officer, a private soldier and a drum- 
mer, with arms and accoutrements, marching in expectation of battle. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

and HIS LAST resting place 33 



The officer in coniniaiid raises the flag with one hand, pointing to the 
enemy with the other, orders a charge. The private with the musket, 
as the representative of the whole line, is in the act of executing the 
charge. The drummer boy has become excited, lost his cap, thrown 
away his haversack and drawn a revolver to take part in the conflict. 

The Artillery group represents a piece of artillery in battle. The 
enemy has succeeded in directing a shot so well as to dismount the gun. 
The officer in command mounts his disabled piece and with drawn saber 
fronts the enemy. The youthful soldier, with uplifted hands, is hor- 
rified at the havoc around him. The wounded and prostrate soldier 
wears a look of intense agony. 

The Cavalry group, consisting of two human figures and a horse, 
represents a battle scene. The horse, from whose back the rider has 
just been thrown, is frantically rearing. The wounded and dying 
trumpeter, supported by a comrade, is bravely facing death. Each of 
these groups cost $13,700. 

The statue of Mr. Lincoln stands on a pedestal projecting from the 
south side of the obelisk. This is the central figure in the group, or 
series of groups. As we gaze upon this heroic figure the mute lips seem 
again to speak in the memorable words that are now immortal. We 
hear again the ringing sentences spoken in 18.59 of the slave power: 
Broken by it, I too, may be; bow to it, I never will. * * * jf pyer I 
feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those dimensions not wholly 
unworthy of its Almighty Architect, it is when I contemplate the cause of 
my country deserted by all the world beside, and I, standing up boldly and 
alone, hurling defiance at her victorious oppressors. Here, without contem- 
plating consequences, before high Heaven and in the face of the world, I 
swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of the land of my life, 
my liberty and my love. 

From the day of its dedication. October 15, 1874, until July 9, 
189.5, the Lincoln'^ Monument remained in the control of the National 
Lincoln Monument Association. 

In 1874, after its dedication, John Carroll Power was made cus- 
todian, and continued in that possession until his death in January, 
1894. A sketch of the Lincoln Monument codd not. in fairness, be 
Avritten without paying a tribute to his faithfulness, zeal and love. He 
revered the Xation's hero and gave to his last resting place the tenderest 
and most assiduous care. Much that is of interest in the history of this 
first decade of the existence of the monument has been written by his 
untiring pen that would otherwise have been lost. 

After the attempt w^as made to steal the body of President Lin- 
coln, Mr. Power summoned to his aid,' in 1880, eight gentlemen, resi- 
dents of Springfield, who organized as the "Lincoln Guard of Honor." 
They were J." Carroll Power, deceased; Jasper N". Eeece, deceased; 
Gustavus S. Dana, deceased; James F. McNeill: Joseph P. Lindley; 
Edward S. Johnson; Horace Chapin, deceased; Xobel B. Wiggins, de- 
ceased, and Clinton L. Conkling. Their object was to guard the precious 
dust of Abraham Lincoln from vandal hands and to conduct, upon the 
anniversaries of his liirth and death, suitable memorial exercises. 



A B R A 


HAM 


LINCOLN 


84 




and HIS LAST resting place 



During these years an admittance fee of twenty-five cents was 
required of all visitors to the monument, and this small fee constituted a 
fund by which the custodian was paid and the necessary expenses of the 
care of the grounds defrayed. 

In the winter of 1894, in response to a demand voiced almost uni- 
versally by the press- and the people of Illinois, the General Assembly 
made provision for the transfer of the N"ational Lincoln Monument and 
grounds to the permanent care and custody of the State. The new law 
puts the monument into the charge of a board of control, consisting of 
the Governor of the State, the State Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion and the State Treasurer. 

July 9, 1895, Hon. Eichard J. Oglesby, the President, the only 
surviving member of the original Lincoln Monument Association, turned 
over to the State, as represented by its chief executive, Governor Alt- 
geld, the <leeds and papers relating to the monument and grounds. The 
Governor received the trust on behalf of the State, pledging its faith- 
fulness to the duty of guarding and caring for the last resting place of 
the illustrious dead. The commission appointed as custodian Edward 
S. Johnson, major of the veteran Seventh Illinois Infantry and a mem- 
l)er of the Lincoln Guard of Honor. The admittance fee is a thing of 
the past and "To the Mecca of the people let all the people come, bring- 
ing garlands of flowers, carrying away lessons of life. There is no 
shrine more worthy of a devotee, no academy of the porch or grove where 
is taught so simply and so grandly the principles of greatness. Strew 
flowers, but bear away the imprint of his life, the flower of manliness 
and the wreath of honor. "'^ 

In the two score 3^ears since the death of Abraham Lincoln the scars 
of war have healed, the peace and unity for which he prayed have been 
realized, and it seems fitting to bring this brief recital of his life and 
the story of the strife from which it is inseparable up to date with this 
glance at the present : 

"T have seen the new South ! But I saw it not by the Potomac, 
nor by the Cumberland. I saw it by the shore of that peaceful lake 
whose waters are broad enough to carry the fleet of the world and deep 
enough to bury in its bosom all the hatred and all the sorrows of the 
i)ast. 1 saw the new South, with her helmet on, bowing to the august 
Present. 

"She had not forgotten the Past, but was bravely giving herself 
to a welcoming Future. There is a great city in the Xorth, known 
all over as the type of restless, eager, business activity. Behold on one 
day every shop and store and factory was closed ! The hum of trade 
was hushed ! The pulse of traffic had ceased to beat ! And all this was 
because Chicago, gathering her own dead to her heart, found room for 
the l3rothors who wore the gray. Longstreet and Lee. and Hamj^ton sat 
at her hearths while the bugle and the drum proclaimed the everlasting 
peace. 

1 Rev. Roswell O. Post's oration at the Tomb of Lincoln, April, 18S3. 



ABRAHAM LI N C Q L N 

and HIS LAST resting place ^_5 

"When the monument which marks the tomb of the Confederate 
dead at Oakwoods was dedicated, A^orth and South marched together in 
streets thronged not with enemies but friends. 

"Eemembering their own heroic dead, the North reverently un- 
covered while the South gave tears and flowers to hers. 

"The new South stood in line with the new North, and above 
them both towered a form, brave, puissant, serene and free. It was 

THE NEW NATION.'"^ 

MEMORIAL HALL. 

Within J\Iemorial Hall at the south end of the Monument the visitor 
will find a number of interesting articles which were used by Mr. Lin- 
coln personally, or which are in some way associated with his memory. 

Among these is a block of rough-hewn brown stone bearing an in- 
scription in Latin, which was sent to Lincoln after his election for 
the second time as President of the United States, by a group of 
patriotic citizens of Eome. An interesting story is connected with this 
stone. In the early days of Eoman history, al)0ut five hundred and 
seventy-eight years before the birth of Christ, there ascended to the 
throne of Eome a wise and good king called Servius Tullius. His 
origin is more or less mythological but it is supposed that one or both 
of his parents were slaves. This king ruled with justice and benevolence 
and his earnest efforts were directed toward the amelioration of the 
condition of the common people. He deprived the creditor of the 
right to make a slave of his impecunious debtor and even succeeded in 
establishing a constitution which gave these poor wretches political 
independence. 

These acts of the king aroused the jealousy and hatred of the 
nobility and thev determined upon his destruction. Tullius had two 
daughters, both married. One called Tullia. of evil memory, killed her 
own husband and espoused Lucius Tarquinius, the husband of her 
gentler sister who had been murdered by this same Tarquinius. Tar- 
quinius and Tullia at the head of the mob seized the throne of Tullius, 
and that unfortunate monarch while walking unsuspectingly through 
the streets of his city, was struck down and assassinated by a follower 
of his wicked son-in-law. His body was left in the street Avhere it fell 
and his infamous daughter Tullia drove her chariot over it in triumph. 

One of the earliest acts of Servius Tullius had been to add to his 
capital three of the neighboring hills, thus making Eome the City of 
Seven Hills. Around the boundary of the new city he built a wall of 
stone which encircled Eome for seven hundred years and was always 
knoAvn as the wall of Servius Tullius. 

During the centuries of oppression and tyranny which uu^ke up 
the historv of Eome, there has always existed a small minority who 
have loved libertv and justice and these few kept alive from generation 
to generation the memory of Servius Tullius. Looking on from afar 

1 From George R. Peck's oration before the University of Virginia, June, iS95. 
The compiler wishes to acknowledge indebtedness to J- G. Holland s Life of Lvnco n. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



26 



and HIS LAST resting place 



at the four years' struggle in the United States, in which freedom for 
the down-trodden was eventually gained, the patriots of Konie saw in 
President Lincoln, whose great heart and steadfast courage had liber- 
ated four million slaves, an embodiment of their ideal of the ancient 
king whose memory they so lovingly cherished. Therefore, after his 
second election as President, they took from the Wall of Servius 
Tullius, where it had reposed for more than two thousand years, a 
fragment of stone. On it they engraved in Latin an inscription which, 
translated, reads : 




"TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN, PRESIDENT FOR THE SECOND TIME OP 
THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC, CITIZENS OF ROME PRESENT THIS STONE, 
FROM THE WALL OP SERVIUS TULLIUS, BY WHICH THE VIEMORY OP 
EACH OF THESE ASSERTORS OP LIBERTY VL\Y BE ASSOCIATED. 1865." 

This stone they sent to President Lincoln. Li all probability it 
reached him before his death and with his characteristic modesty he 
forebore to mention it. It was eventually discovered in the basement 
of the White House. By an act of Congress, 1870, introduced by 
Senator Shelby 3L Cullom, of Illinois, the stone was transferred to 
Springfield to be placed in tlu' Xational Lincoln Monument then in 
process of erection. 

The stone is of conglomerate sandstone pronounced Ijy a geologist 
of Illinois to l)e in all ]irobability artificial. It is 27i/o inches long, 19 
inches wide, and 8% inches thick. The upper edge and ends are rough 
as though broken by a liammer; the lower edge and the side which bears 
the inscription are diessed true. The stone has no intrinsic beauty, 



ABRAHAM 


LINCOLN 


and HIS LAST resting place 


27 



but because of its associations, it Avill always be an object of interest to 
all lovers of liberty. 

Many things used by Lincoln in his lifetime are preserved in 
Memorial Hall. Here are his surveying instruments, the compass, chain 
and Jacob staff and the worn old black leather saddlebags in which he 
carried implements and papers when as a young men, he went surveying 
in Sangamon County. There is a soap dish which was in his bedroom 
and curtain fixtures, tassel and cord from his Springfield home. There 
are two small black cane-seated chairs which are of his first set of parlor 
furniture; a big ink-stained deal table and a plain Avooden rocker both 
of which were in his law office in Springfield at the time he was elected 
President. 

In a glass frame is a faded piece of white silk with a pattern of 
red flowers. Deeper than the red of the flowers are dark stains of 
blood. This bit of silk is from the gown of the actress. Miss Laura 
Keene, who acted the leading role in "Our American Cousin" at Ford's 
Theater in Washington, on the night of Lincoln's assassination. When 
the murderer's shot rang out and the audience sat stunned and horror 
stricken, Miss Keene stepped from the stage into the President's box 
and took his wounded head upon her knees. She herself, one year 
later, brought the piece of blood-stained silk to Springfield and pre- 
sented it to the jSTational Lincoln Monument. 

Among the number of Lincoln's personal letters which may be seen 
at the Monument, is a co]iy of one of his own hand, written to a little 
girl in Westchester County, Xew York, Avhich shows his never failing 
courtesy and kindness. This little girl of thirteen. Miss Grace Bedell, 
wrote to Mr. Lincoln during his first campaign for President, telling 
him she thought he would look better if he would wear whiskers. In 
the midst of all the turmoil and excitement of the political battle he 
had time to stop and write a personal reply to a child. In all serious- 
ness he told her that as he had never worn whiskers, he feared it might 
be considered a piece of "silly affectation" if he were to begin to culti- 
vate them. ISTot long afterwards, however, he did raise the beard which 
he wore until his death. He never forgot his little friend and on a later 
occasion when he made a hurried trip through the town delivering cam- 
paign speeches, he called for the child and taking her hand, he talked 
with her and told her that she might observe, he had decided to follow 
her advice. 

There are many photographs of scenes made forever dear to the 
American people because of their association with the life of Lincoln: 
his birthplace in Kentucky : the cabin in which his parents were mar- 
ried : the little home in Indiana where his mother died; the wooden 
shack in which he kept post office and store in New Salem, Sangamon 
County, Illinois; the old Eutledgc mill where he probably met his first 
love, Ann Rutledge; his law office in Springfield; the fine old home in 
which he married Mrs. Lincoln; the tavern where they spent their 
honevmoon, and many other photographs. 



A B R A H A 


M 


LINCOLN 


28 




and HIS LAST eesting place 



An almost life-size portrait of Lincoln was presented to the Monu- 
ment by Thomas J. Lincoln, a cousin of the President. This picture 
was painted by Dr. E. E. Fuller, of Keokuk, Iowa, and was awarded as a 
prize to the Fountain Green Wide Awakes, a political organization which 
took active part in the campaign of 1860. The Wide Awakes carried 
the picture in their parades and kept it until after Mr. Lincoln's second 
inauguration as President. They then presented it to Thomas J. Lin- 
coln, of Fountain Green, who fulfilled a long cherished desire when, on 
his eighty-third birthday he carried it himself to Lincoln's tomb in 1906. 

A bit of rebel flag in a frame with a picture of young Col. E. E. 
Ellsworth has an interesting history. Col. Ellsworth had been captain 
and drillmaster of the Chicago Zouaves, pronounced the best drilled 
military organization west of West Point before the war. In Spring- 
field he read law in the office of Mr. Lincoln and a warm attachment 
sprang up between the two. He accompanied the President to Wash- 
ington and was given a commission as lieutenant in the Regular Army. 
A'^lien the war began, he left at once for New York and raised with 
remarkable celerity a regiment of eleven hundred men of which he 
was made commander with rank of Colonel. He brought his regiment 
back to Washington and, under orders occupied the nearby town of 
Alexandria, Virginia. As he marched into the city. Col. Ellsworth 
noticed a rebel flag floating from the summit of the Marshall House 
and, accompanied by four soldiers and a few civilians, he ran into the 
hotel, ascended the stairs and tore down the flag with his own hands. 
As he reached the foot of the staircase he was shot dead by the pro- 
prietor of the hotel. His death was immediately avenged by one of his 
companions. Col. Ellsworth was buried from the East Room of the 
White House by special order of the President who mourned him as a 
son. Of all the heroes who perished in the bitter four years' struggle, 
not one was more lamented than this gallant young officer who had 
never seen a battle. 

In Memorial Hall may be seen an immense volume containing 930 
quarto pages. It is made up of copies of the notes and resolutions of 
sympathy which flooded into the White House after the assassination 
of Lincoln. By a joint resolution of both Houses of Congress, this 
volume was published in 1867, in order to preserve these expressions 
of sympathy which were sent from all parts of the world, written in 
not loss tlian twenty-five languages. Legislative bodies, corporations, 
voluntary societies, public assemblies called together for the occasion 
and private individuals, one and all expressed their horror at the crime 
and their warm sympathy with the bereaved family of the President 
and the American people. A number of the original documents sent 
to ilrs. Lincoln and the United States Government, after Lincoln's 
death, were forwarded by Robert T. Lincoln, son of the President, to 
John T. Stuart, of Springfield, in 1871. and these now hang framed 
on the walls of Memorial Hall. ]\rost of them are on heavy vellum or 
parchment and are beautifully embossed. 



ABRAHAM 


L I N C O 


L N 


and ITIS LAST RESTING PLACE 




29 



A very haudsonie oaken tablet, seven and a half feet high and five 
feet across" and beautifully carved, was presented to the Monument on 
the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the death of Lincoln, by the 
Turner Bund, a German society of St. Louis. ]\Iembers of this society 
and of similar societies all over the country were present in large num- 
bers and conducted fitting exercises at the Tomb. The center of the 
tablet is of white satin and bears the following inscription in gold and 
black letters : 

Li honor 

of our beloved 

Martyr President 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Whose life was sacrificed 

In the triumphant execution 

Of our grand principles 

The preservation of the union 

and 
The al)olition of human slavery 



This memorial was dedicated 
On the twentieth anniversary 

Of his death 
As a token of undying love 
And reverence by the 
North American German Turner Bund 
April loth 1885 

J. Toensfeldt |_ H. Gollmer 

Pres't I Sec'ty 

Executive Committee 



F. P. Becker 
J. J. Link 
E. Eschmann 
E. F. Weigel 
J. B. Gandolfo 
L. Duestrow 

J. Xolte 

F. Pfisterer 

A. Kleinecke 

C. Bie^er 



G. Bamberger 
E. Gieslmann 
A. L. Berofeld 
H. W. Ocker 
E. A. Becker 
A. J. Smith 



W60 



Sfbinqfikld, Ilu 

Illinois State Journal Co., State Printbbs. 

19 16 










-^0^ 










0^ ^ 






,^ ... 













♦ /J 




•^^ .o« 



'^o^ 




'oK 




* <c? "^ "^ 







J."-'*, '.'^ 






















.<J^' 















o_ * 






'tf^^ ♦ o » o » 








.1°<. 



















v-"?^^*'/ %.'^^\/ V'^n*°' . ^;-^ 















*bv° 



^0 i^ ' 






--^^ -" ^^♦" .... ^'^^^"'"'.S^ 









•i'.%. ./.!;^v"^.. ..^'.:4.-i:.X J'yJ^^^^^ 

















^^ . 










^^<^ 



WERT * 

BOOKBINDtNC 

Crantville Pa , 
March ■ *P"' 196^ 





4" °<<* . ^..„„ 



./"-*. 







